


The man upstairs

by Evil_Keshi



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Cuddling, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-20 07:13:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8240795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Keshi/pseuds/Evil_Keshi
Summary: When Sam wakes up in the middle of the night and finds Dean's bed empty, he assumes his brother had a nightmare (again), thus walking out of their shared bedroom in hopes to find him. And he does. Only, Dean is not alone.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is the first Supernatural story I'm publishing, my other ones being works in progress still, and I really hope that you'll enjoy this short fanfic. As I am rewatching the whole show with my sister, this came to me while we were marathoning season 4; this oneshot takes place somewhere during that season or maybe the 5th one, depending on your personal timeline for the establishment of Dean and Castiel's relationship. Enjoy!

  


Sam starts awake in his bed, gasping and sitting up in a sudden move as sleep abandons him. Disoriented and bleary-eyed still, the young man needs a few seconds to realise that he's in the bedroom he shares with his brother when they stay at Bobby's place, at least when they're not sleeping in the office after a long night of research. Sam wouldn't understand what woke him up or _why_ , since everything looks perfectly normal in the room (salt at the windows, a demon trap in front of the door and the gun under his pillow, the usual hunter normality) but for a detail. An important one: Dean is nowhere in sight.

Sam doesn't panic. Sleep failing his brother happens more than he would like it to, but what could he possibly do about that, when Dean refuses to speak of the nightmares plaguing his nights? Sam knows that his brother has them even though he never admits as much and doesn't talk about them at all, but Sam knows all the same. How could he not, when they sleep in the same motel rooms and he has to hear his brother whine at night, or when he drives and Dean, for once shotgun, thrashes next to him?

Tonight must be one of these nights when Dean woke up after a violent nightmare and went to the kitchen to grab a beer and calm down. He's an adult, a thick-headed one at that, so Sam should go back to sleep and let his brother come back to bed whenever he's ready but... Dean is his brother and Sam can't help worrying. Who knows, maybe Dean needs some company, even if they don't speak at all.

Sam runs a hand over his face to get rid of the last hints of sleep visible around his eyes, then gets out of bed and begins to walk down the stairs. However, he stops halfway through when his ears catch soft words and hushed whispers.

In spite of the low tone, he recognises his brother's voice, unmistakable for someone who knows him as well as Sam does, but the other is even lower and he can't associate any name nor face to that voice. This raises a few questions in his mind: who is Dean talking to? What about? Could it be that he's sharing his nightmares with someone? Who, then? As far as he knows, there are only the three of them in there and Sam can hear Bobby snoring in his own bedroom so... Who's the intruder?

Whoever they may be, Dean and this mysterious person appear to not want to be heard, based on their hushed words, so Sam naturally holds his breath and proceeds with caution as he walks down a few more steps, expecting a loud creak coming from the stairs at any moment. Remaining as silent as he can manage, the young man eventually gets close enough to the bottom of the stairs so that if he leans down a little, he can see his brother through the frame of the office door, a few feet away from his spot in the staircase. And Dean is not alone.

Sam almost laughs aloud when he realises that he should have guessed the identity of his brother's interlocutor - after all, Castiel has visited them by surprise more than once - but when he actually sees and _registers_ the scene he has in front of his eyes, Sam nearly chokes and dies on the spot.

Castiel looks more relaxed than Sam has ever seen him: the angel has taken off his trench coat, opened the two first buttons of his shirt, and now he is... sitting, for lack of a better word, on the battered couch in Bobby's office. Actually, Castiel is half-sitting and half-lying, his body huddled in the corner made by the armrest and the back of the couch, his knees spread apart to give room to another body.

Dean.

Dean, sitting between the angel's legs and leaning back on Castiel's chest with a gentle smile on his face, the fingers of his left hand tracing imaginary patterns and curls over the fabric of the other man's pants, across his thigh. Dean, sighing in contentment as Castiel's arms sneak around his waist to hug him tightly and draw him a little further back.

Sam doesn't - can't - find words. The non-shocked part of his brain understands a whole lot better some of the things that have always made him wonder about the nature of the relationship between Castiel and his brother - the stares, the tension, the concern, the protectiveness. The other part remains speechless. This is... The way Dean and Castiel sit, almost curled up around each other, doesn't leave room for any other explanation than the one that has popped in Sam's head.

There is a soft intimacy in the way Dean closes his eyes and smiles in Castiel's embrace, a gentle care in the angel's fingers as they massage the hunter's skull, in the way he nuzzles into Dean's neck and makes him laugh, a low rumble that Castiel must feel against his chest.

They aren't talking anymore now but Sam doesn't wish to hear them any longer. This... Whatever they have, be it a profound bond or something that means even more to them... This is none of his business. He even regrets walking in on this shared moment of peace, on this instant that belongs to the angel and his human, this instant that they certainly wanted to keep as theirs, to cherish together. He feels like an intruder, someone who has no right to stand there in the dark and witness this second of tranquillity between two weary souls.

Dean laughs again then, catching Sam's attention once more, and he sees his brother turn his head to place a quick kiss on Castiel's jaw. He probably doesn't realise the stupid grin he is sporting on his face but it doesn't even matter, because Dean looks... Happy. A word, the only one maybe, that Sam would never have used to describe his brother, never until tonight.

Sam doesn't realise that he's crying until a fat drop of water hits his hand, clutched on the railing. Witnessing his brother's happiness makes his throat tighten with emotion, an odd mix of vicarious satisfaction and apprehension at the thought that maybe it won't last. God knows how much Dean deserves something good coming his way though, how he deserves some happiness after everything he has done - for Sam, for the world, for all these people they don't know but saved anyway. Dean might think that he has done terrible things too and might never forgive himself for those but... This doesn't change the fact that his brother deserves all the love he can get.

And who, other than an angel, could love a person the way they deserve? Even after everything they have been through because of the feathery dicks, even though the angels themselves have told Sam that they were warriors, he still won't have it any other way: in his mind, angels were made to love and protect first of all. His brother should get all that and ten times more but for now, he looks radiant and that is enough for Sam.

Sam steps back, even more careful not to make a noise now, fearing to disturb the two men - well, kind of - downstairs. He could blame Dean for not breathing a word about this, about Castiel and him, but he doesn't. For now, all that matters is the happiness etched on his brother's face and Sam is not going to ruin it for him just because he was kept in the dark - he understands, this desire to have at least one good thing for oneself and protect it.

So, Sam goes back to bed with a grin on his face and his heart at rest. And if the smile he flashes to Castiel the next day is a little too bright and grateful, it is nobody's business but his.

  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading until the end, I hope you enjoyed this story! I would love to get some feedback so feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments ;)


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